Eagles to perform entire “Hotel California” album on 2020 tour

That’s skirting the point altogether.

 

What’s your point? What iconic songs have they written since he was out the band? Zero.

They are still touring off the most famous song the band ever wrote, the music to which was written by Fingers.

He deserves to be there.

 

That the band has remained successfully and not missed a beat since he was booted. Stueart Smith has more than adequately covered his playing. Felder wasn’t a great writer in the first place.

 

Don Henley at the Eagles LA Forum gigs last year, said they were recording those gigs for a future boxset. Lets hope its a career spanning boxset.

 

Yeah, I remember hearing that. Who knows what they will do. I suspect they have a lot of professionally recorded and filmed shows from the 1994 HFO tour through the present period. I would think that they would have a better chance promoting the new band and moving product if it was coupled with some vintage live tapes from the Glenn Frey era.

 

And as far as I can tell, they have a live 1980 gig pro shot. Ive seen videos on Youtube, and there is some bits on the official documentary, That would be a great addition to the boxset.

 

Not altogether true. His writing credits were fairly significant from One of These Nights through The Long Run, their entire commercial record sales peak.

As for your other point about him claiming credit for Hotel California, this is beyond dispute. Nothing in the doc contradicts it. Henley and Frey said when they heard it, they liked it, and one of them called it Mexican reggae. The lyrics are probably 99% Henley, but the song structure is all Felder.

Yeah, we're only talking about one song, but it's their signature track. It's the one that they couldn't avoid performing live to avoid paying him royalties.

 

It depends on how you define significant. His co-credits from that period include: Visions, Too Many Hands, Hotel California, Victim of Love, Disco Strangler, Teenage Jail, and Those Shoes. Take his contributions to Hotel California out of that list, and it isn’t particularly significant, nor prolific. While I like most of those songs, many of the band’s strongest tracks from that era do not contain a Felder credit.

Let’s be accurate. The song’s intro and various elements of the song’s melody are attributable to Felder, but the actual musical song structure was collaborative. Henley and Frey built that song; their involvement was far more than plugging lyrics on top of an alleged completed piece of music. It was not a complete, structured piece of music when they got a hold of it.

 

You know the Eagles' biggest selling album - "Greatest Hits" - mostly includes songs that pre-date Felder, right?

 

Felder's "iconic"? Seriously?

 

It is amazing how a group of pro-Felder fans continue to promote a false narrative that The Eagles popularity is largely due to one song (and that Felder is solely responsible for all of the song’s music). The catalogue is filled with huge hits and radio staples that Felder had no part in composing, songs that propelled the band into an arena act and built the legacy. Take It Easy, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Witchy Woman, Doolin Dalton, Tequila Sunrise, Desperado, Already Gone, James Dean, The Best of My Love, One of These Nights, Lyin Eyes, Take It To The Limit, After The Thrill Is Gone, New Kid In Town, Life In The Fast Lane, Wasted Time, The Last Resort, The Long Run, Heartache Tonight, I Can’t Tell You Why. The Eagles don’t owe their success to Don Felder.

Did the Hotel California title track contribute to the band’s legacy? Absolutely, it is an iconic rock song, but it is only one of many Eagles staples. The Eagles wrote most of their greatest material without Don Felder (and also recorded a number of classics without him — as Greatest Hits Vol. 1 proves).

 

Wasn't it Ian Anderson that said the main riff of "Hotel California" was pretty much lifted from a tune from Benefit? I cannot remember the song at the moment, but the progression is pretty similar as I recall.

 

Joe Walsh is the band’s iconic guitarist.

 

That's it! From Stand Up not Benefit. Thank you.

 

Yup. The only essential members of Eagles are Glenn Frey and Don Henley - and apparently thousands of people don't even think Glenn is essential!

 

Nine guys? It looks like they have their own bullpen.

 

The going Bald Eagles.

 

Is that Felder’s current backing band?

 

This what Anderson has said about it:
“[‘We Used to Know’] was a piece of music that we were playing around the time, I believe it was late ’71, maybe early '72, when we were on tour,” Anderson explains in an interview, which can be heard below. “And we had a support band who had been signed up for the tour and subsequently, before the tour began, had a hit single, a song I believe called ‘Take It Easy.’ And they were indeed the Eagles.”

“They probably heard us playing [‘We Used to Know’], because that would have featured in the set list back then,” he continues. “And maybe it’s just something that they picked up on subconsciously and introduced that chord sequence into their famous song ‘Hotel California’ some time later.”

Felder actually wasn’t a member of the Eagles at the time that the Eagles toured with Jethro Tull, though as a friend of founding member Bernie Leadon, he could have been in attendance at a show where Tull performed “We Used to Know.” Felder has denied having heard the song before writing “Hotel California” and said his main knowledge of Jethro Tull is that Anderson plays flute.

Though Anderson has commented on the similarities between the songs over the years, he says he’s always meant his comments as a joke. He dismisses the idea that anyone in the Eagles plagiarized “We Used to Know.”

(I added the bold-type)

Did the Eagles Get the “Hotel California” Chords from Jethro Tull? | Guitarworld

 

To be fair, Felder came up with a number of guitar parts for some of those songs and improvised some updates when others were performed live. He, Joe Walsh and Randy Meisner have said in separate interviews that everyone contributed to the music, even it’s not reflected in the credits.

I’m not saying the band owes its success to Felder but he definitely helped light the fuse that sent them into the stratosphere. It seems there’s a bit of the Brian Jones Syndrome happening with him, where anytime he gets some praise, someone else has to make sure it’s not too much.

 

Well, let's be clear, the Felder-enthusiasts go way beyond giving him some praise, often it seems like they largely credit him for the band's rise to fame, which is absurd. Felder had a great tone, and contributed some great guitar work (and obviously a handful of key guitar progressions and riffs on a few songs), but I think asserting that he helped light the fuse is an exaggeration. The band's formula was in place before 1974, the songwriting was in place, the first-rate vocal work was established, and the band already had first-rate material -- all before he arrived. The band (rather Glenn Frey) wanted another lead guitarist that could assist with establishing more of a rock sound, and he gave the gig to Felder (thanks to Bernie's recommendation), who was virtually unknown. No discredit to Felder, but there were a number of top-shelf guitarists that could have filled that role (albeit, none would have come up with the Hotel California guitar progression). Take the Hotel California title track and Victim of Love out of the catalogue, and The Eagles still have a body of work filled with major hits, radio staples, and supreme songwriting that Felder played no part in. Even before Hotel California was released, the band was filling arenas.

Again, I am not dismissing Don Felder and his contributions. I think he was a tremendous guitarist and clearly added some wonderful musical contributions, both in terms of writing and musical execution. That said, I don't think he was the missing ingredient to the band's major mainstream success, nor do I think he should he receive that sort of credit. Do I think he was treated fairly by Henley and Frey in 1994? Probably not. Do I think he was a victim? No. But that is a separate issue from his creative role in the band.

With respect to Walsh, Meisner and Felder contributing to the music (as well as Bill Szymczyk), I don't think that is even a question. Of course they did. That is what bands do. Certainly John Entwistle, Keith Moon, and Roger Daltrey contributed to The Who's music while it was developed and recorded in the studio, but Pete Townshend still was the songwriter of those songs. Unfortunately, offering up ideas for arrangements and musical approaches, or coming up with a solo doesn't translate to a writing credit. It definitely results in a performance credit (and/or a production credit). As I previously mentioned, the Hotel California album was a sum of its parts, and all five band members played key roles in creating it.

 

It's closer to Felder being a John Paul Jones than Brian Jones. Henley/Frey weren't like Mick & Keith with completely monopolizing the credits. The only exception was that Felder claimed that he conceived the bass part to "One of These Nights." Felder had a music theory background, and Henley/Frey never questioned the claim. Somebody would be better to comment on whether or not that could earn a writing credit.

Szymczyk said that the book wasn't really exaggerated much. One can compare the autobiography (yes, there was obviously an ax to be grind) with the doc (they got their opportunity to reply in kind) and decide.

As for them owing their success to him, nobody's suggesting that he did. However, it was Frey, who gave him the nickname, "Fingers." It was also Frey, who sauntered up to the adjacent urinal (possibly coke-fueled) and told him how he helped elevate the band. This fits in with the timeline, as Frey wanted the band to go in a more straightforward rock direction and shift away from country-rock. If he hadn't, maybe they'd have found somebody else or they'd have remained a 4-piece and gone the way of America or Firefall.

Felder also developed a chemistry with Walsh, which hasn'y existed since (own personal opinion). This was deveoped through their appearances at Walsh solo concerts, and Walsh guest spots with the Eagles before he joined officially.

That's what he did.